Let's have a very honest conversation about wedding planning right now.

With the cost of living affecting everyone, weddings are expensive. I completely understand that hiring a professional florist for every single aspect of your day might simply not be in the budget this year. Because of this, more and more couples are choosing to take the brave step of doing their wedding flowers themselves.

If that is you, I want to say two things: well done for taking it on, and I am here to help.

I am not writing this to convince you to book me. I am writing this because, after years of working with delicate blooms in hot summer marquees and sun-drenched gardens, I know exactly how quickly heat can ruin beautiful flowers. If you are spending your hard-earned money on wholesale blooms, I want to make sure they look absolutely perfect when you walk down the aisle.

Here are my top insider tips for keeping your DIY summer wedding flowers alive, hydrated, and looking flawless.

1. Cleanliness is Everything

When your flowers arrive two days before the wedding, your first job is to put them in water. But here is the secret: that water and the buckets need to be clean enough to drink from.

Bacteria is the number one enemy of cut flowers. It blocks the stems and stops them from drinking, causing them to wilt rapidly. Before you fill your buckets, scrub them out thoroughly with a tiny bit of bleach.

2. The Golden Rule of Cutting

Never just plonk flowers straight into a bucket. They have been out of water during transport and the ends of their stems will have sealed up.

Using very sharp, clean secateurs (not kitchen scissors, which crush the stem), cut at least an inch off the bottom of every single stem at a sharp 45-degree angle. This creates the maximum surface area for the flower to drink from. Get them straight into your clean, cool water immediately after cutting.

3. Keep Them Cool (But Beware the Kitchen Fridge)

Heat causes flowers to open quickly and then wilt. You need to keep your arrangements in the coolest, darkest room in your house until the very last minute. A garage or a cool stone hallway is usually perfect.

You might be tempted to put delicate flowers in your kitchen fridge. Do not do this if there is any fruit or veg in there! Ripening fruit (especially apples and bananas) gives off ethylene gas, which will rapidly age and kill your flowers overnight.

4. Choose Your Flowers Wisely

If you are designing your own arrangements for a hot July day, make life easier for yourself by choosing hardy blooms.

Flowers like Tropicals, Carnations (they are making a massive comeback and are indestructible), Chrysanthemums, and classic Roses hold up beautifully in the heat.

Be very careful with Hydrangeas and Sweet Peas. Hydrangeas drink water through their petals as well as their stems. If they are out of water in a hot room, they will collapse in an hour. If you use them, keep them in deep water right up until the photos start.

5. On-The-Day Hydration

When your bouquets are made, keep them sitting in vases of fresh water right up until the moment you need to leave for the ceremony. Just remember to keep a clean towel handy to dry the stems off before you walk down the aisle, so you don't get water marks on your beautiful dress!

Taking on your own wedding flowers is a big job, but with a little bit of careful prep and a lot of hydration, you can absolutely do it. Wishing you the most beautiful, stress-free summer wedding day!